Spartan AR550 Body Armor and Leonidas Plate Carrier Package

 Leonidas Plate Carrier System with AR550 Body Armor 

The Leonidas plate carrier is an advanced plate carrier system is fit for a Spartan King, hence the name "Leonidas". This versatile plate carrier hosts a wide variety of proven features including a removable cummerbund. When you are looking for the toughest plate carrier available to take into battle this is it. Take a look at all the features below.

Our AR550 body armor is NIJ level III rated but has undergone special threat testing to achieve a level III+ rating, click here to learn more. NIJ Certification applies to AR550 Shooters and Swimmers Cut Single Curve Full Coat armor plates. 

Why Are Your AR550 Single Curve Full Coat Plates Labeled as Level III? 

Spartan AR550 Single Curve, Full Coat body armor plates are labeled as level III on the back of the plate as the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) does not currently have a level III+ rating. Level III+ indicates special threat testing and was created by the body armor industry to fill the void between NIJ 0101.06 level III and NIJ level IV, specifically to account for high velocity penetrator rounds such as M855 (aka green tips). While Spartan AR550 single curve full coat plates are certified as NIJ level III, rest assured they are made from AR550 ballistic steel and have been special threat tested to level III+. Quite simply, the NIJ requires that we label AR550 single curve full coat plates as level III even though they are capable of higher ballistic protection. 

Advanced plate carrier that is feature packed

• 500 Denier 
• Front Top Zippered Admin Pouch
• Front Lower Velcro kangaroo pouch
• PALS web attachment points covering the front, back and shoulders of the vest
• Mil spec laser cut PALS Webbing on the shoulders
• Cummerbund is designed to hold a 5"x15" IIIA soft armor inside each side.
• Cummerbund has a proprietary retained shock cord system to allow stretch while being held in place to stop sagging.
• Cummerbund is removable and the carrier is equipped with removable quick release buckles
• Genuine US Mil Spec Webbing
• Velcro on the back Drag Handle keeps it in place
• Heavy Duty bar tacking at key stress points
• Communication or hydration hose guides 
• Padded Front and back interior of carrier with airflow channels sewn in
• Front and back areas of Velcro for identifiers
• Bottom Loading Plate Pockets accepts 10x12, SAPI and Similar Armor
• All pieces Made in USA, assembled in Mexico

*Note* This plate carrier by itself will only hold 5x15 Soft Armor Panels, this package will come with a molle system to attach on your 6x6 or 6x8 side plates. 

Our AR550 armor hits the “sweet spot” in the Brinnell Hardness (BHN) range. With a core hardness of approximately 545-560 BHN, we have found our  ballistically rated variant of AR550 that we use is perfect for defeating higher velocity threats, while not exposing the armor plate to extreme stress due to forming.

Our AR550 Level III+ armor has our GEN2 lower cut radius. With a 10% increase in core hardness, this ballistic grade steel perfectly hits the “sweet spot”. It’s much harder than AR500, but not too hard to cause severe stress while forming.

Our AR550 Spartan Body Armor now has the option of Advanced Triple Curve (ATC). An industry FIRST! Spartan Armor Systems™ is proud to be the FIRST in the industry to commercially offer triple-curved AR550 body armor. With higher velocity rifle threats commonly present throughout the United States, we’ve developed this AR550 armor to specifically defeat some common threats such as 5.56 x 45 XM193, 5.56 x 45 M855 /SS109 and 7.62 x 51 (.308 Winchester) at a rated velocity of 3,100 fps or less. Additionally, we’ve successfully defeated these threat profiles from Close Quarters Battle (CQB) distances…repeatedly!

Configuration:   This armor comes as a pair, meaning you will receive both front and back plates, and optional side plates

Level III+ Side Plates:   Choose from either 6″ x 6″ (small) or 6″ x 8″ (large)

Full Coat or Base Coat Options: 

We are excited to announce our potentially “life saving” breakthrough!  The strike face for our plates is mark embedded with our Spartan logo! Both sides of these plates are coated, however, the back side only has a “courtesy coat” to protect against wear and rust. The front of the plate is lined with 1/4-3/8 of our proprietary coating, Encapsaloc ™.  The result is a plate approximately 1/2-5/8” total thickness.  See our FAQ for more information about our Encapsaloc ™ process. By purchasing, you will receive (2) Formed Spartan™ Omega™ AR500 Body Armor 10″x12” chest plates.  Due to popular demand, we have added a “base coat” only option for our AR500 Omega™ armor products. The base coat option has an extremely thin layer of our fragmentation mitigation coating to aesthetically enhance the plates, and to provide corrosion resistance. This coating has minimal, if any, fragmentation mitigation capabilities.